Review of Why Him? (2016) by Vasco M — 07 Mar 2017

One theory of comedy state that a careful use of profanity can be funny, especially when it's used sparingly and unexpectedly. This movie does not ascribe to that theory.

Instead, the viewer is bombarded with a constant stream of F-bombs and S-bombs. Profanity spewed from the lead character starts out as shock comedic effect, but quickly becomes non-stop primary vocabulary, to the point that almost every character is spewing it by the end of the film. It's as if the writers filled half the dialogue with profanity just to pad out the script. A quarter of the way through the film, it's no longer funny or even clever, and just turns boring.

As for the plot, it's the same tired, completely unrealistic story of a beautiful girl falling for a total jerk, who also happens to be fabulously rich, and the bulk of the film is an attempt by her parents to try to like the guy. Of course, if you can't like the guy in the first couple of minutes, there's no hope for the rest of the film.

Today's Millennials might get a few chuckles out of the gaffs made by the Dad, using the old formula of generation-gap misunderstandings as a platform for humor. But overall, the joke of the film is pretty obvious after ten minutes, and the rest of the film provides an uncomfortable ride to the predictable ending, with no surprises or touching moments along the way to make the scenery interesting.